“Consent” is a Molotov cocktail, flung at the face of the French establishment, a work of dazzling, highly controlled fury…By every conceivable metric, her book is a triumph.” — The New York Times
Already an international literary sensation, an intimate and powerful memoir of a young French teenage girl’s relationship with a famous, much older male writer—a universal #MeToo story of power, … male writer—a universal #MeToo story of power, manipulation, trauma, recovery, and resiliency that exposes the hypocrisy of a culture that has allowed the sexual abuse of minors to occur unchecked.
Sometimes, all it takes is a single voice to shatter the silence of complicity.
Thirty years ago, Vanessa Springora was the teenage muse of one of the country’s most celebrated writers, a footnote in the narrative of a very influential man in the French literary world.
At the end of 2019, as women around the world began to speak out, Vanessa, now in her forties and the director of one of France’s leading publishing houses, decided to reclaim her own story, offering her perspective of those events sharply known.
Consent is the story of one precocious young girl’s stolen adolescence. Devastating in its honesty, Vanessa’s painstakingly memoir lays bare the cultural attitudes and circumstances that made it possible for a thirteen-year-old girl to become involved with a fifty-year-old man who happened to be a notable writer. As she recalls the events of her childhood and her seduction by one of her country’s most notable writers, Vanessa reflects on the ways in which this disturbing relationship changed and affected her as she grew older.
Drawing parallels between children’s fairy tales and French history and her personal life, Vanessa offers an intimate and absorbing look at the meaning of love and consent and the toll of trauma and the power of healing in women’s lives. Ultimately, she offers a forceful indictment of a chauvinistic literary world that has for too long accepted and helped perpetuate gender inequality and the exploitation and sexual abuse of children.
Translated from the French by Natasha Lehrer
”…One of the belated truths that emerges from [Consent] is that Springora is a writer. […]Her sentences gleam like metal; each chapter snaps shut with the clean brutality of a latch.” — The New Yorker
“Consent [is] rapier-sharp, written with restraint, elegance and brevity.” — The Times (London)
”[Consent] has something steely in its heart, and it departs from the typical American memoir of childhood abuse in exhilarating ways.” — Slate
“Lucid and nuanced…[Consent] will speak to trauma survivors everywhere.” — Los Angeles Review of Books
”A piercing memoir about the sexually abusive relationship she endured at age 14 with a 50-year-old writer…This chilling account will linger with readers long after the last page is turned.” — Publishers Weekly
“Springora’s lucid account is a commanding discussion of sexual abuse and victimization, and a powerful act of reclamation.” — Booklist
“A chilling story of child abuse and the sophisticated Parisians who looked the other way…[Springora] is an elegant and perceptive writer.” — Kirkus
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A pedophilia memoir and rant. A true story.
Before I start writing my review, I just want to say this review is more about the translation, the writing part, and not about the story, I personally believe a personal story should never be rated because it is the real story of a person and we can’t rate the life of anyone, especially stories like Vanessa Springora.
Consent, I went completely blind. I did read the blurb but I wasn’t aware of the story and I really didn’t know anything about Vanessa Springora or G. so many things that were happening in this book, It was a shock but it was more of a shock to read how many people knew and saw this as a very natural thing or something that wasn’t wrong at all. even Vanessa Springora’s own mother was completely blind by the terrible mistakes and misconceptions her own mind was translating to her.
Consent is the real story of Vanessa Springora, since she was a child her mother and father never had any closeness with her, they were always so occupied with their own lives, not caring about her at all, she was constantly looking for guidance and love but this was not the case. I felt terribly sad to read how she only wanted to have normal parents but this was never the case, her parents had their own world to care about and it always seems like V wasn’t in that world.
V got caught in the eyes of a predator that knew exactly what to say and how to act to conquer her heart and mind.. and this is exactly what happened, a vulnerable girl with no family system that could support her was immediately stolen of her soul. another thing that really made me sad was to read how people besides helping her or give her some advice they will criticize her and point fingers at her. my question is how can you criticize a 14-year-old girl who is just starting her life? how can you as an adult don’t see that a normal child would not behave like that and yet all the adults around her catcall her names? this is exactly what society do they like to talk and talk but never act and help.
I’m sure the original language version of Consent was amazing, but I somehow felt at lost many times with the translation version, the translator made me feel like the book was written very fast passed and at one point I felt like it was skipping days or situations, I know this was not the case, the way she translated the book somehow felt that way. like she was writing pieces of Vanessa Springora’s memory but didn’t felt like the pages or chapters connected with each other is like there wasn’t a continuation of her story this was the only thing that I didn’t like and that I felt with the way the translations was done.
Overall it was a good book, it was a very sad story to read, especially to see how lonely Vanessa was and no one really was there to guide her or even support her while everything was happening, all the lies she constantly heard so she would think everything was normal. I’m glad she wrote her story, she deserves this and more.